Drone Patents
US 9,393,847
MODULAR AND MORPHABLE AIR VEHICLE
The following drone patents were granted in July 2016:
| PAT. NO. | Title |
|---|---|
| 9,401,758 | Unmanned air vehicle with autonomous air traffic control communications capability |
| 9,400,500 | Autonomous vehicle refueling locator |
| 9,400,498 | Tactical robot controller |
| 9,400,338 | Seismic acquisition system-based unmanned airborne vehicle |
| 9,400,329 | System for mapping and tracking ground targets |
| 9,400,187 | Autonomous driving vehicle, autonomous driving management apparatus, and method of controlling the same |
| 9,400,183 | Method and apparatus to transition between levels using warp zones |
| 9,399,934 | UAV engine lubrication system incorporating an electric oil pump and lubrication oil heating capability |
| 9,399,472 | Autonomous mode vehicle control system and vehicle comprising such a control system |
| 9,399,450 | Method and system for promoting a uniform driving style |
| D761,690 | Unmanned aerial vehicle |
| 9,397,782 | Remote control methods and systems |
| 9,397,518 | Wirelessly transferring energy to a mobile device |
| 9,395,727 | Single layer shared aperture beam forming network |
| 9,394,048 | Unmanned aerial vehicle and operations thereof |
| 9,394,042 | Underwater floating device |
| 9,393,998 | Systems and methods for vehicle offset navigation |
| 9,393,961 | Verifying a target object with reverse-parallax analysis |
| 9,393,847 | Modular and morphable air vehicle |
| 9,393,683 | Conductive boot for power tool protection |
| 9,392,743 | Agricultural autonomous vehicle platform with articulated base |
| 9,392,570 | Method of using aircraft for providing mobile network connection and locating subscribers in specified areas |
| 9,391,700 | Integrated optical receiver skin |
| 9,390,621 | System and method for measuring the real traffic flow of an area |
| 9,390,489 | Method and system for assessing damage to infrastructure |
| 9,390,451 | Insurance system related to a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system |
| 9,389,614 | System and method for tracking guiding lines by an autonomous vehicle |
| 9,389,611 | Adaptative platform for unmanned defense vehicles |
| 9,389,084 | Detecting changes in aerial images |
| 9,387,940 | Intelligent self-leveling docking system |
| 9,387,930 | Stealth aerial vehicle |
| 9,387,928 | Multi-use UAV docking station systems and methods |
| 9,387,927 | Rotary-wing drone comprising autonomous means for determining a position in an absolute coordinate system linked to the ground |
| 9,387,911 | Launch and recovery techniques for submersible vehicles and other payloads |
| 9,387,863 | Rail vehicle system |
| 9,387,854 | Use of environmental information to aid image processing for autonomous vehicles |
| D760,624 | Autonomous drone |
| 9,386,605 | Mobile dynamic mesh cluster bridging method and apparatus at incident scenes |
| 9,384,668 | Transportation using network of unmanned aerial vehicles |
| 9,384,666 | Methods to operate autonomous vehicles to pilot vehicles in groups or convoys |
| 9,384,510 | Systems and methods for providing a roof guide |
| 9,383,753 | Wide-view LIDAR with areas of special attention |
| 9,383,752 | Railway maintenance device |
| 9,383,750 | System for predictively managing communication attributes of unmanned vehicles |
| 9,383,749 | Transitioning a mixed-mode vehicle to autonomous mode |
| 9,383,520 | Optical power transfer system for powering a remote mobility system for multiple missions |
| 9,382,002 | Drone for inspection of enclosed space and method thereof |
| 9,381,986 | Jet-pump-based autonomous underwater vehicle and method for coupling to ocean bottom during marine seismic survey |
| 9,381,980 | Systems and methods for launching and retrieving objects in aquatic environments; platforms for aquatic launch and retrieval |
| 9,381,919 | Method and arrangement for entering a preceding vehicle autonomous following mode |
Drone Patent Applications
The following drone patent applications were published in July 2016:
| PUB. APP. NO. | Title |
|---|---|
| 20160219223 | DRONE PROVIDED WITH A VIDEO CAMERA AND MEANS FOR COMPENSATING FOR THE ARTEFACTS PRODUCED AT THE HIGHEST ROLL ANGLES |
| 20160217698 | CONTEXT-BASED FLIGHT MODE SELECTION |
| 20160217695 | Multi-part Navigation Process by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Navigation |
| 20160217694 | INFORMATION COLLECTION AND COMPONENT/SOFTWARE UPGRADES FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES |
| 20160217692 | VESSEL MONITORING SYSTEM AND VESSEL MONITORING METHOD THEREOF |
| 20160217627 | SENSOR FAULT DETECTION AND DIAGNOSIS FOR AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS |
| 20160217578 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MAPPING SENSOR FEEDBACK ONTO VIRTUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF DETECTION SURFACES |
| 20160217562 | Active Imaging Systems for Plant Growth Monitoring |
| 20160217153 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL POINT-IN-POLYGON OPERATION TO FACILITATE DISPLAYING THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES |
| 20160216710 | VELOCITY CONTROL FOR AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE |
| 20160216245 | INFRARED AERIAL THERMOGRAPHY FOR USE IN MONITORING PLANT HEALTH AND GROWTH |
| 20160216072 | INTERACTIVE WEAPON TARGETING SYSTEM DISPLAYING REMOTE SENSED IMAGE OF TARGET AREA |
| 20160214808 | STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM TRANSPORT VEHICLE |
| 20160214797 | STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM |
| 20160214728 | AN IMPROVED DRONE STRUCTURE |
| 20160214717 | COMBINATION OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES AND THE METHOD AND SYSTEM TO ENGAGE IN MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS |
| 20160214715 | Systems, Methods and Devices for Collecting Data at Remote Oil and Natural Gas Sites |
| 20160214713 | UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE WITH LIGHTS, AUDIO AND VIDEO |
| 20160214696 | POSITION-LOCKING FOR A WATERCRAFT USING AN AUXILIARY WATER VESSEL |
| 20160214612 | AUTONOMOUS DRIVING DEVICE |
| 20160214607 | PREDICTIVE REASONING FOR CONTROLLING SPEED OF A VEHICLE |
| 20160214605 | USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION TO AID IMAGE PROCESSING FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES |
| 20160214596 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADJUSTING DRIVELINE OPERATION |
| 20160214595 | Driver Assistance System with Increased Reliability and Availability |
| 20160214533 | AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE CAMERAS USED FOR NEAR REAL-TIME IMAGING |
| 20160214487 | HYBRID ELECTRIC DRIVE SYSTEM AND METHOD |
| 20160210830 | SELF-PROPELLED SECURITY SYSTEM ON AN ADJACENT TO A FENCE TRACK |
| 20160210775 | VIRTUAL SENSOR TESTBED |
| 20160210383 | VIRTUAL AUTONOMOUS RESPONSE TESTBED |
| 20160210382 | AUTONOMOUS DRIVING REFINED IN VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS |
| 20160209850 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ROBUST NONLINEAR REGULATION CONTROL OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES SYNTETIC JET ACTUATORS |
| 20160209849 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DECENTRALIZED, MULTI-AGENT UNMANNED VEHICLE NAVIGATION AND FORMATION CONTROL |
| 20160209848 | ASSOCIATING PASSENGER DOCKING LOCATIONS WITH DESTINATIONS |
| 20160209847 | TRANSPORT VEHICLE AND METHOD FOR A PROBLEM-FREE TRANSPORT FO HEAVY-DUTY SHELVES IN WORKSHOPS WITH RADIO SHADOWING USING A PARTLY AUTONOMOUS DRIVE MODE |
| 20160209845 | AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE ROUTING AND NAVIGATION USING PASSENGER DOCKING LOCATIONS |
| 20160209844 | Inferring State of Traffic Signal and Other Aspects of a Vehicle’s Environment Based on Surrogate Data |
| 20160209843 | PASSENGER DOCKING LOCATION SELECTION |
| 20160209842 | ASSOCIATING PASSENGER DOCKING LOCATIONS WITH DESTINATIONS USING VEHICLE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK PARTITIONING |
| 20160209841 | AUTONOMOUS DRIVING DEVICE |
| 20160209839 | DISTRIBUTED, UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE PACKAGE TRANSPORT NETWORK |
| 20160209220 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANTICIPATORY DEPLOYMENT OF AUTONOMOUSLY CONTROLLED VEHICLES |
| 20160209219 | METHOD OF AUTONOMOUS LANE IDENTIFICATION FOR A MULTILANE VEHICLE ROADWAY |
| 20160209191 | COMMON CARRIER MUNITION |
| 20160207711 | STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM |
| 20160207710 | STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM |
| 20160207709 | STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM |
| 20160207637 | Mobile Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Infrastructure and Management System and Method |
| 20160207627 | PACKAGE TRANSPORT CONTAINER AND TRANSPORT OPERATIONS FOR AN UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE |
| 20160207599 | Drive System for a Water Vehicle, Method for Operating a Drive System, and Water Vehicle Having the Drive System |
| 20160207538 | AUTONOMOUS DRIVING VEHICLE SYSTEM |
Definitions
As we use the term here, a “drone” is a vehicle that does not have an on-board human operator. Most drones have some degree of autonomous operation. At least some aspect of a drone’s operation is controlled internally. This requires a computer and software. Vehicles that require a human to control every aspect of operation, such as a hobbyist’s remote controlled airplane, are generally not considered drones.
Most drones use a mixture of autonomous and human control. For example, a drone may have the ability to automatically stabilize itself by adjusting control elements and power settings, but a person is needed to tell the drone where to go.
Aerial drones are known by many different names and acronyms. Here are the most popular:
- Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV)
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
- Unmanned Aircraft (UA)
- Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)
- Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV)
Since drones use a very wide range of technologies (please see our drone technology article), we do not attempt to include every patent or application that could be applied to drones. Please let us know if we have missed any important patents.
Drone patent applications are applications that have been filed with and published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although most applications are published, a small percentage (about 7% nation wide) are not published for various reasons. Patent applications are generally published 18 months after the first priority date of the application. Published applications have not necessarily been examined and some applications will be abandoned after publication. Once an application is examined and approved and all fees and formalities have been satisfied, the Patent Office grants a patent.
More Information
Please see our patent page for more information on patents and our intellectual property page for more information on intellectual property.